Computer systems are used in editing video data. Computer systems are also used to compress the video data. The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) has provided the video compression standards MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4. MPEG-1 is a standard for storage and retrieval of moving pictures and audio on storage media. MPEG-2 is a standard for compression of video for products such as Digital Television and DVD's. MPEG-4 is a standard for multimedia for the web. Such compression processes generally cause the loss of some video quality in order to achieve the desired video compression.
The processes used for compressing video data under MPEG-2 cause video compression of video data edited with certain special effects to take longer to compress than video data without certain special effects and which may result in a poorer quality compressed video. Generally, processes used to compress video data under MPEG-2 require the use of a compression algorithm to compress the video data. The compressed video data may then be uncompressed and compared with the original video data. If the error between the resulting video data and the original video data is too large, the algorithm is adjusted or another algorithm is used to compress the video data. The error is then again checked until an algorithm is found that provides a satisfactory error. Such iterative processes of trying different algorithms to obtain an acceptable error takes a large amount of processing time and reduces video quality. Such a process using a 733 MHz Power Mac G4™ by Apple Computer of Inc.™ of Cupertino Calif. with 8 Gigaflops may require two times real time for video compressing, i.e. 60 minutes to compress a 30 minute movie.
It would be desirable to provide a computer system which is able to provide video compression at a higher speed or which is able to produce a higher quality and improved video compression.